Research interests

• Spatial ecology
• Species distribution models
• Bat ecology
• Bioacoustics and echolocation
• Urban ecology
• Concepts and values in biodiversity research & conservation

 

 

Scientific projects

As a spatial ecologist, I am fascinated to disentangle factors that influence the distribution of species and communities. I use species distribution models to study both, macroecological and conservation-related questions.

Current research project: Identification of regional ecotypes with species distribution models: niche differentiation of neotropical bats

The question of which factors determine the ecological niche of a species, and hence its distribution, has attracted ecologists for a long time. One line of research has investigated whether a species’ niche differs between the edge and the core of its distribution. To survive at the edge, populations may have evolved regional ecotypes that are especially adapted to deal with suboptimal conditions. However, current species distribution models are insensitive to regional ecotypes and treat populations from the entire distribution area as equal. Consequently, erroneous estimation of ecological niches, and hence distribution areas of species, seems likely. An exciting way of investigating this premise is to study neotropical bats (> 220 species) as they are species-rich and ecologically highly diverse. The main focus lays on the elusive aerial insectivorous bats for which we also collect occurrence data in Panama applying novel bioacoustic methods. Next to fruitful collaborations within the research group in Ulm I also work closely with Dr. Rachel Page at the Smithonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Dr. Rafael Samudio, SOMASPA, Panama .
Previous research focused on urban ecology at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL (Project website) in Switzerland where I studied different aspects of urban biodiversity (specifically bats, birds and insects) in an interdisciplinary project called BiodiverCity, as well as on bat ecology and bioacoustics at WSL (BatScope) and the Institute for Ecology and Evolution of the University of Bern.

Selected publications

Sattler, T., P. Duelli, M. K. Obrist, and M. Moretti. 2011. Urban arthropod communities: added value or just a blend of surrounding biodiversity? Landscape and Urban Planning. 103, 347-361.

Fontana, S., T. Sattler, F. Bontadina and M. Moretti. 2011. How to manage the urban green to enhance bird species richness and diversity. Landscape and Urban Planning. 101:278-285.

Sattler, T., D. Borcard, R. Arlettaz, F. Bontadina, P. Legendre, M.K. Obrist and M. Moretti. 2010. Arthropod and bird communities in cities are shaped by environmental control and high stochasticity. Ecology. 91, 3343-3353.

Sattler, T., P. Duelli, M.K. Obrist, R. Arlettaz and M. Moretti. 2010. Response of arthropod species richness and functional groups to urban habitat structure and management. Landscape Ecology. 25, 941-954.

Vandewalle, M., F. de Bello, M.P. Berg, T. Bolger, S. Dolédec, F. Dubs, C.K. Feld, R. Harrington, P.A. Harrison, S. Lavorel, P. Martins da Silva, M. Moretti, J. Niemelä, P. Santos, T. Sattler, J. Paulo Sousa, M.T. Sykes, A.J. Vanbergen, B. A. Woodcock. 2010. Functional traits as indicators of biodiversity response to land use changes across ecosystems and organisms. Biodiversity and Conservation. 19, 2921-2947.

Sattler, T., F. Bontadina, A. Hirzel and R. Arlettaz. 2007. Ecological niche modelling of two cryptic bat species calls for a reassessment of their conservation status. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44, 1188-1199.